The Good Enough Job
Dear Friends,
It's so fun learning new terms. One reason we all landed is some sort of medical or nursing training, I suppose. I listened to this podcast yesterday interviewing Simone Stolzoff about his new book, The Good Enough Job, which was a mother lode of new phrases that pertain to our experiences as healthcare workers. What a delight. I will share a few here!
1. Worksim: This term, originally coined by journalist Derek Thompson, introduces the notion that work can hold a status similar to a religious identity. It's not just about earning a paycheck; it's also about seeking transcendence, meaning, and self-actualization through your work. We forget that ultimately our job is an economic agreement with a corporation seeking profit.
2. Value Capture: Think of this as a situation where a worker relentlessly pursues what the market values, without considering what they personally value. This often results in individuals climbing career ladders they don't truly desire or playing a game they have little interest in winning. This reminded me of one of our core practices in Introspective Spaces events is some kind of values exercise.
3. Vocational Awe: This phrase touches upon specific industries like education, healthcare, nonprofit sectors, and more, which are often perceived as virtuous or inherently good. However, the problem with this perception is that they allow these problems to seem like they're the result of individual choices as opposed to systemic issues that have to be addressed at an institutional level. If you just sweep something under the rug and say, "Oh, this is just part of the cost of working in the field that does good in the world." Then it prevents us from having a real conversation about what does it mean to have a living wage in some of these industries, what does it mean to support workers and give them the protections and compensation that they deserve.
Learning about these terms has added depth to my understanding of work and its various dimensions. I hope they pique your interest as well.
Anu ordered the book, so we will keep ya posted on more goodies.
Wishing you every good thing this week!
Warm regards,
Anu & Laura
Inspirations
"Stuart Andrew, the British minister for loneliness, told me that one of the challenges of loneliness is the stigma that surrounds it." I can relate to this. I would never in a million years admit I experience loneliness. Even now I want to qualify it.
We continue to follow the work on social connection and loneliness started by US Surgeon General earlier this year. I enjoyed this reflection on the topic by NYT columnist Nicholas Kristoff.
We are interested in this topic because isolation is one of the features of moral distress. We hope Introspective Spaces can be a place of social connection that is foundational to our human experience.
The Fight for the Soul of American Medicine
"American medicine is broken, surrendered to high finance and the extraction of profit as a primary goal. The institution is hell-bent on dragging down public health in its greed [...]
Anu sent me this article while I was laying on my couch drinking coffee this morning. Turns out I didn't need coffee this morning, because this sober look at demise of public health in our country will raise you to your feet with rage.
The author invites us to come together and organize across lines of specialty and training. This is part of our vision for creating spaces that challenge the medical hierarchy and allow us to build more capacity for organizing and power!